Background Information on Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

Biographical Information (1930 - )

 Wrote primarily about his native Africa - Achebe grew up in Nigeria

 Work includes articles, essays, short stories, novels, poetry, and children’s books

 Mother and father were missionary leaders; Achebe raised as Christian and member of
Ibo tribe (How might this be reflected in the novel?)

 His first work, Things Fall Apart (1958) -- the most widely translated and widely taught
African novel – presents a view of traditional Ibo life at the moment of contact with British
colonialism.

 Universal qualities in life, across cultures, but with attention to the influence of point-of-
view (How does Achebe challenge ethnocentrism?)

 Traveled abroad, teaching at UMass-Amherst in 1972, UConn, and returned home to

teach at the University of Nigeria. Currently, Achebe teaches at Bard College, NY.

 Common Achebean Concerns (How does some or all of these emerge in Things Fall
Apart?)
Custom and Tradition
Choices and Consequences
Alienation and Loneliness
Betrayal
Change and Transformation
Good and Evil
Culture Clash
 STUDYING THINGS FALL APART

FOCUS: LITERARY
CULTURAL

Setting
Iboland – Southeastern Nigeria
Pre-colonialization (late 1800s)
Tribal Society
Christianity and Colonization

Literary Structure
Three Parts – analogous to Greek tragedy
Okonkwo as Tragic Hero

Literary Devices
Setting
Conflict
Narrative Style (Fables, Folk Tales, Proverbs, Myths)
Imagery
Point of View
Foil
Symbolism
Metaphor
Allusion – the novel’s title comes from Yeats’ poem, “The Second Coming”

Notable Quotables

“Literature is extremely important. The only proof I have for this is that it is,
fundamentally, storytelling, and storytelling for some reason is considered vital by every
society on earth. We seem to be incurable makers of stories. Whatever we do, we create
a story to support it. That’s really my belief, that we are doing something which is
mandated by our very humanity. Stories don’t tell stories to each other, but people do,
whenever they get together… that is the importance of literature for me. It’s as basic as
that.” – Achebe, November 3, 2001

Achebe has also said that he wrote Things Fall Apart not only as a response to the
European/Western view of Africa, but also for his own people, to “remember.”